By Alicia Mmashakana
Lebogang Maile, Gauteng’s acting MEC for Human Settlements, paid a visit to Cemetery View to informal settlement in Tshwane on Monday discuss the interventions that would be implemented to assist those affected by a massive fire.
A total of 814 shacks burnt down, claiming the life of one person and critically injuring another. The fire affected approximately 2600 people.
“There are intergovernmental efforts deployed to aid the community including emergency services, home affairs and the department of human settlements from the three spheres of government who will continue to be stationed here,” Maile said.
The department stated that land has already been identified for relocation, and the municipality has appointed engineers to perform geotech services to ensure it was habitable.
“We can’t deal with the timelines now, because they’ve just appointed. What we want to edge the municipality to do is to move quicker and ask the engineers to work as fast as possible,” the MEC said.
Maile further stated that informal settlements were a major issue in Gauteng, bordering on lawlessness in most cases, and that they must find a way to prevent people from occupying land illegally.
“We want municipalities, the province and national to work together in a coordinated way, making sure that all the state-owned land, including private owned land, is identified and protected.”
He said the municipality received a court order instructing it to find alternative land for the Cemetery View settlement residents who were supposed to be relocated.
“Sometimes our hands are tied as the government. We are doing our best and will try to the best of our abilities to act decisively,” Maile said
The cause of Saturday’s fire is still being investigated.
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